Health & Beauty

Free NHS flu vaccination clinics available across Devon

It’s not too late to have your free NHS flu vaccination to protect yourself and your loved ones this winter.

Due to the current increase in the rates of flu and other respiratory infections, extra drop-in clinics are running for those eligible to get their free NHS...

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Quitting smoking increases levels of happiness

Nearly two thirds (62%) of ex-smokers in the South West are happier since they quit smoking with around a third saying that giving up smoking has led to major lifestyle changes, according to new research commissioned by Smokefree South West to coincide with the launch of its Be There Tomorrow campaign.

The survey also reveals that the vast majority of smokers (91 per cent) experienced...

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Smoking

smokers quit

Devon

give up tobacco

Plymouth

Cancer death rates drop in South West

People across the South West are being urged to show their support for World Cancer Day today (February 4) as Cancer Research UK releases new figures revealing that cancer death rates in the region have fallen by 9 per cent over the last 10 years.

The charity is encouraging everyone in the region to wear a Unity Band or make a donation to demonstrate their support for people affected...

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Free ankylosing spondylitis roadshow in Plymouth

The National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (NASS) will be running an event for people who have been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (axial spondyloarthritis) (AS) in the last 18 months called AS & You.

The event will take place at Plymouth Copthorne Hotel from 6.00pm on 10 March 2016 and is completely free. Anyone who goes along is also invited to bring friends and family so...

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Free. ankylosing spondylitis roadshow

Plymouth

South West

Devon

Devon woman's eight stone weight loss

A 26-year-old engineer from Newton Abbot has lost eight stone after her doctor warned her she was 'a heart attack waiting to happen'.

Rachel Coppen, whose weight loss journey started in March 2014, has dropped from a dress size 28 to a size 12 from XXXL to a small.

Rachel said: “I had known for a long time that I needed to lose a serious amount of weight, but it never seemed to...

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Winter death asthma attack alert

Asthma UK is urging people with asthma to be vigilant in winter as data shows the number of people who die because of an asthma attack peaks in January1 and remains high in February and March.

Data from the Office for National Statistics highlights that asthma is the cause of proportionately more excess winter deaths than other conditions and respiratory diseases were the underlying...

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Half of people in SW have heart disease fears

Almost three quarters of people in the South West have someone in their family with risk factors that put them greater risk of heart disease, according to new statistics released ahead of the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) Wear it. Beat it. campaign to get the nation wearing red to fight heart disease on Friday 5th February.

The BHF poll revealed over half of people in the South West...

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Wear It Beat It

heart disease

bhf

British Heart Foundation

Study explores pressures of healthy eating in January

Over one quarter (27%) of people in Plymouth confess to having both tried and failed healthy eating plans time and again at the beginning of each year and 36% of people are putting pressure on themselves to battle the bulge left by Christmas calories, according to new research.

With people in Plymouth having pledged to be healthier this January – one quarter (25%) concentrating on...

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healthy eating

Plymouth

Devon

30% of SW children leave primary school obese or overweight

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is calling for a ban on all junk food TV advertising before 9pm, as part of the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy, to help improve children’s health.

Millions of children across the UK are being exposed to junk food adverts during popular shows such as the X Factor and Hollyoaks.

Analysis by the BHF shows that weak regulations are...

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Cholesterol-lowering drug trialled as a potential treatment for Parkinson’s

A clinical trial using cholesterol-lowering treatment Simvastatin in people living with Parkinson’s is getting underway in centres across the country – with the hope that it could become one of a number of effective treatments available to treat Parkinson’s.

Spearheaded by Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the double-blinded placebo controlled study will...

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Free online depression therapy in Devon

In January, the most depressing month of the year, researchers are urging people to take up free therapy courses in a bid to help them find a definitive answer to what works best in online treatment for depression.

It has long been known that online cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) can be effective in treating depression – but scientists do not know which aspects work best. Now...

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